Sir Ridley Scott has been responsible for the success of many movie greats. Some of his work includes Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Hannibal and Alien.

Ahead of this Friday's release of Prometheus, here are ten facts about the director to get you started.

1. Ridley Scott was born in South Shields, England into an army family. His father Colonel Francis Percy Scott was an officer in the Royal Engineers and his older brother Frank joined the Merchant Navy while he was still young, so they were absent for most of his childhood.

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2. Scott graduated from the Royal College of Art in London, gaining a BA Honours from the Film Arts School. He also did a Master's degree at the London International Film School, where two of his short films won awards.

3. The director owns the London-based visual effects company Mill Film. They did the majority of the effects work on his film Gladiator in 2000.

4. Ridley directed an advert for Maxwell House coffee which starred Shakira Baksh. Actor Michael Caine saw the advert and was so captured by the actress's beauty that he searched for her. The couple have now been married for over 30 years.

5. Scott suffers from claustrophobia. He wanted to create the feelings that the condition elicits in the movie Alien, which he managed by making the cast as cramped as possible in the Nostromo living quarters.

6. It is suggested that due to his army and artistic background, Ridley is obsessed with minute detail and visual perfection. On the set of Alien, actress Sigourney Weaver complained that he cared much more for his props and set than he did for the cast.

7. Ridley has two sons, Jake and Luke, who both work as directors at their father's production company Ridley Scott Associates. Their mother is Felicity Heywood who was married to Scott for 11 years. He also has a daughter, actress Jordan Scott, with advertising executive Sandy Watson. He and Sandy divorced in 1989.

8. Scott is currently in a relationship with actress Giannina Facio, who he has cast in all of his films since Gladiator.

9. Enya's recording 'Aldebaran' is dedicated to him.

10. Ridley Scott in numbers: He has directed five actors in Oscar-nominated performances; in 2009 The Sunday Times estimated his net worth at $172 million; he has operated on over 2,700 commercials; over 50% of the actors he has hired have elite drama school or theatre backgrounds.